Boston Youth Farm Project

“If your plan is for one year plant rice.

If your plan is for ten years plant trees.

If your plan is for one hundred years,

educate children. ”

- Confucius

Mission Statement

The mission of the Boston Youth Farm Project is to teach children about nutrition, the environment, and plant biology with a big focus on student empowerment. We will do this by providing Boston schools with hands-on experience in urban farming.

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What we do

We create a growing environment in the classroom where students tend microgreens from seed to harvest over the course of one month. An accompanying set of lesson plans connects this work to academic competencies addressing plant science, food systems, and sustainability. We provide all materials and coursework.

Teachers - all you do is sign up and we handle the rest! We are happy to tailor lesson plans to match your learning outcomes.

Northeastern Global News: Urban Farming Education Takes Root in Boston Schools

“If we can get to people at a young age, when they are so open to learning new concepts, it can have a big ripple effect on their lives”

Our 3 Pillars

Self-Empowerment

Students build confidence and independence by learning how to grow their own food. We focus on making sure that each student learns that they have the ability to create and grow all by themselves so that they may carry this knowledge forward into their lives and share with others.

Sustainability

Did you know that over 70% of global water resources are used for agriculture? Do we know where our food comes from? Sustainability is an important theme at BYFP. Our project aims to shed light on our modern food systems and gives students practical examples to fortify this learning ending with an optional tour of the Boston Microgreens facility in South Boston.

Nutrition

BYFP focuses on teaching students how to grow various plants and microgreens, how these plants provide nutrition and how important our diet is in leading a happy and healthy life. We set up the environment and let the plants do the talking!

"This program is amazing"

“This program is amazing . My students have gained more than just a love of planting. They now have knowledge of how food is grown, transported and all the resources that are needed to produce a single dinner. They also understand some of the sustainability issues surrounding our food systems.”
— KRISTI LOCKE, RICHARD J. MURPHY SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER
"I wish we had more of these experiences for more students"

For the last three weeks, my students and I had a great time. Planting seeds, observing them grow, and harvesting the microgreens together was a great science project. It's a meaningful and live learning experience for the students. Most of all, they loved to eat the microgreens. While eating salad and microgreens tacos students were excited to eat the greens and shared their prior experience of eating greens at home. I wish we had more of these experiences for more students. Thank you!
— SOOK YEO, SCIENCE TEAHER, EDISON K8 SCHOOL
"Curriculum greatly enriched"

South Boston Catholic Academy’s curriculum is greatly enriched by our community partnership with Oliver Hamberg and BYFP. Oliver and his team bring their expertise in urban farming to our faculty and students; engaging students in the science of growing produce from seed, in our STEM classroom. Students are privileged to experience the 4th lesson at Boston Microgreens, where they see state of the art technology in action, on a vastly larger scale. We are grateful to be recipients of BYFP’s generosity, in volunteering their time and talent, to enhance the education of our urban students, in horticultural knowledge.
— DENISE MORIARTY, ASSISTANT VICE PRINCIPAL, SOUTH BOSTON CATHOLIC ACADEMY
"Fostering engaging learning experiences"

We could not thank Oliver and Boston Youth Farm Project enough for coming to SBCA and fostering such engaging learning experiences for our students. We have had the pleasure of working with BYFP for the last two years. They are always so incredibly accommodating and have executed the lessons over various grade levels. Here at SBCA we truly value a hands-on learning and Oliver and the Boston Youth Farm Project team provides just that. They do such a great job at educating the students about nutrition, the environment, and how to plant roots both literally and figuratively within our very own community. I have firm belief that BYFP will continue to shape many young minds across Boston and we look forward to continuing our journey together!
— LAUREN MONAGHAN, SCIENCE TEACHER, SOUTH BOSTON CATHOLIC ACADEMY
"A great program"

“BYFP provided a great program that immersed students in learning. There’s nothing like getting your hands dirty, nurturing a young plant and then getting to eat that plant all while learning the benefits of urban farming and cultivating your own foods. The kids looked forward to every week and really enjoyed their field trip to experience the large garden space indoors, helping them realize what is possible.”
— ALEX CLARK, PAUL A. DEVERS SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER
"Such an enjoyable experience"

The Boston Youth Farm Project has been such an enjoyable experience for the Taylor school. Our students not only loved learning about how amazing foods and plants sprout from tiny seeds, but also enjoyed being to taste what they grew all on their own. We look forward to having BYFP at our school again!
— SHAKIRA SMITH, 5th GRADE TEACHER, CHARLES H. TAYLOR SCHOOL

Make a donation

Our project relies 100% on grassroots funding. Cash is energy. Take some of that energy and put it to use! Over 95% of our budget goes directly to school supplies and paying our talented in school facilitators. We do not pay ourselves for any administrative work. Thanks for your help :)

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